Sweet & Savory

There are some food ingredients I  normally don't end up using...almost ever.  Some of them I have an aversion to (dill!), others I just either don't have on hand, rarely need, or have shrugged off.  Not always fairly, I might add.



I also have always had a weird thing with not liking savory dishes with sweet add-ins.  Such as fruit as an addition to salad, sweet sauces or vinaigrettes, raisins in any non-dessert course, and last but not least, anything with the adjective "Honey-Baked".  To be honest, I've never actually had honey-baked ham, but I keep hearing advertisements on the radio for it, so that was the first thing that came to mind when I thought of sweet-savory dishes.  I like to keep my sweet tooth as far away from savory tooth (new word?) as much as possible.  In the dessert category, to be exact.

Does this mean that I also don't use cranberry sauce with my turkey on Thanksgiving day?  Why yes, yes it does.  Please don't hate me!



The point of this, you ask?

I might be getting there.  Basically all of this explains why I generally don't end up cooking with  certain foods in the kitchen.   One of them being sweet corn. With the exception of a really great grilled corn on the cob, it's one of those foods I always tend to put aside in the kitchen.  However, lately I've been trying to put aside my prejudices against certain foods (not happening, dill!).  And this is exactly what I did the other day.

Sweet-and-Savory Corn Muffins

The perfect muffin to accompany both dinner and/or dessert.  A little honey or maple syrup on top make these even more delectable!

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow corn meal (I used Arrowhead Mills!)

1/2 cup frozen corn kernels (optional)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

dash of ground nutmeg

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Butter regular-size muffin tin and set aside.  Be sure to place the muffin tin on a baking sheet, as this helps even the cooking!


2. Whisk together the flours, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt.


3. In a large bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the butter, buttermilk, egg, yolk until well-blended.  Pour the dry ingredients over the wet slowly whisking quickly until just blended.


4. Gently stir in frozen corn kernels.  Divide the batter among the muffin tin and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden.


5. Serve warm!  A nice spread of butter or maple syrup is delicious on these.  Makes 12 muffins.

Need a better close up?  Here ya go

The frozen corn kernels give a really nice texture to these muffins and they occasionally give a burst of flavor in your mouth, which is a fun surprise!  But they are completely optional.  Both my parents don't actually love corn breads (because they tend to be too sweet--I guess this runs in the family?), but they loved these.  They would have preferred leaving out the corn kernels, but I liked them!  It's your choice.

My mom actually ate three muffins in the span of an hour and then proceeded to playfully yell at me for making something too good to resist.  Compliment taken.

These would be a perfect muffin to serve with Thanksgiving dinner too!  Followed, of course, by a long nap ;)

Ok, but seriously, if you ever see a recipe on this blog that includes dill (except in minute quantities), it means I've been held hostage and forced to cook and write about it.  Got it?  Ok, good.  Slight exaggeration, but not completely out of the question.

What's your biggest food aversion?

Comments

[Faith @ lovelyascharged]

Mmm, these look awesome! I have a feeling I'd put salsa on them - you know, in keeping with the savory.

My biggest cooking aversion is mayo! Can't see/smell/taste it or I get really grossed out. That stinks because it rules out a lot of picnic dishes like potato salad and coleslaw :(

[Laura]

Hehe, good idea. I totally have an aversion to mayo too! Except with tuna...but other than that, I can't eat it. You can make some great coleslaw without mayo and use a yogurt sauce instead. It's healthier too ;)

[sophia]

WHAT!!! this is a traversty! you might never be able to eat the food I cook because they almost always are a combo of sweet and savory....boo!

Hm, but what about bacon in those muffins, eh? ;-)

My biggest food aversion is pretentious vegan stuff. Or cutesy names for foods, like choccies instead of chocolate and din-din instead of dinner. Oh, and rice. I HATE rice.

[Maryea @Happy Healthy Mama]

I love corn muffins! Sweet and savory foods are my favorite.

[Pretty. Good. Food.]

Yum, sounds super yummy! :)

[Laura]

Thank you!!

<3 Laura

[Laura]

I'm starting to like them more too! Thanks Maryea :)

[Laura]

Agh! Oops. I'm still sure I would love anything you made and fed me ;) I'm getting better about liking them. And, I'm sure you could add bacon to these muffins, hehe.

You hate rice?!? I guess a sushi date is out of the question then.

[Tiffany]

I have the exact same sweet-savory aversion. I do make an exception for sweet corn, but I don't eat cranberry jelly with Thanksgiving either.

[Laura]

So glad to hear I'm not the only one! :)

<3 Laura